None of the ancient Taoists preached indiscriminate love, generosity, or friendship although they recognized the value of generalized courtesy for practical reasons. They also favoured smooth relationships with neighbours, even with hostile ones, in order to minimize conflict. However, neither Lao-Tzu, Yang-Tzu, nor Chuang-Tzu ever called for sacrificing ourselves for the sake of strangers. They…

In contrast to other philosophies, Taoism provides practical, hands-on advice for living happily. Its originator, Lao-Tzu, had worked for years in the royal court and came to the conclusion that the traditional lifestyle did not lead to happiness. The Tao Te Ching, which the tradition attributes to Lao-Tzu, revolves around one idea, namely, that individuals…

Taoism revolves around a single idea, namely, that it’s better to live in alignment with the Tao. If our actions are misaligned with the Tao, they will produce a negative outcome; and if they are widely misaligned, the outcome might prove very negative. Aristotle (384-322 BC) lived one and half centuries later than the first…

Long after Lao-Tzu had written the Tao Te Ching, Aristotle (384-322 BC) devoted extensive efforts to studying nature. In his works, Aristotle adopted a quasi-mechanistic understanding of nature, where event A would lead to outcome B and then C. Lao-Tzu would have been surprised to learn that Aristotle had studied human nature separately from nature…

All quotes from the Tao Te Ching can be summarised in a short sentence. In fact, this short sentence is enough to sum up the whole Taoist philosophy: If we align our actions with the Tao, we will do well. Neither Lao-Tzu, nor Yang-Tzu, nor Chuang-Tzu employed this precise wording, nor did they define precisely…